


Parallax

by Revantio



Series: Nothing is wrong [4]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Gen, Please read previous stories for context, The All Might POV nobody asks for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:35:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26508313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Revantio/pseuds/Revantio
Summary: “Midoriya, my boy,” Toshinori begins slowly, his skeletal hand on the boy’s shoulder made the teen focus on his blue eyes, holding his solemn stare, “There’s one thing you should always remember about Shimizu Tsunayoshi,” Midoriya gulped. Toshinori deepens his frown. “That man is amonster."// Parallax (n.)the effect whereby the position or direction of an object appears to differ when viewed from different positions
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku & Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Sawada Tsunayoshi & Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Shimura Nana & Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Yagi Toshinori | All Might & All For One
Series: Nothing is wrong [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1225022
Comments: 10
Kudos: 225





	Parallax

Nana Shimura crawled through the charred ground. Her fingers dig and left claw mark with blood and dirt sipping on earth, her broken body moved inch by inch. As she moved, blood trickled down her head, painting her ghostly white face red. She heaved labored breaths, clenching her teeth clatter every time her body moved by an inch.

A as the clanking of black shoes stopped right in front of her, Toshinori held his breath. As his mentor’s bloody, mask covered eyes and burnt face tilted up to the man in defiance, he gritted his teeth just as painfully as his mentor. Clenching his fists, digging his nails deep to his skin, holding himself _still_ because Toshinori had _promised_.

“Hmm,” The man in black coat— _All For One_ —hummed, peering down to Toshinori’s beloved mentor with such nonchalance that Toshinori felt blinding _rage_ through his being. “Not you.”

Toshinori couldn’t see the man’s eyes, covered by his wild untamed fringes, but he swore they flickered orange. And he could move now. With the man kneeling down in front of Shimura-sensei, with how unfocused his figure looks, Toshinori could run there and get his mentor to safety. After all, he was not that weak child anymore. Toshinori has grown, has trained, and he’s clearly stronger than that starving kind on the street.

_… Isn’t he?_

But then why—

Why is he still here? Why couldn’t he move? Why is his body trembling with cold sweat? Why is his feet refusing to cooperate with him?! _Why is it so hard to breath?!_

Toshinori is not scared. (He is)

Toshinori is _not_ scared. (His feet are frozen by terror)

Fear is the poison of the mind. He is not poisoned nor he is a slave of fear. He had changed. He’s stronger now. He will not be ruled by this _thing_ anymore!

So move. _Listen to me and move!_ _Move, damn it!_

Toshinori gritted his teeth and stumbled forward—

—and then there’s a sea of _sunset_.

Even from the distance, All for One’s eyes are unnerving. They shone yellow and orange like sunset, but instead of warmth, there’s only bone-curling coldness and emptiness. As if someone tried to paint the scenery of sunset but with such _wrong_ color that it invoked the feeling of dread by looking at them.

All for One tilted his head, like a dead porcelain doll looking at something he couldn’t quite figure out.

Toshinori gulped—but he continued forward. _I am not a prisoner of fear._ Not looking away from the man’s gaze, ignoring his clenching fists, he stepped forward. _Fear cannot stop me._

“Toshi…nori…”

His mentor took priority in his mind, then. All for One did nothing, still kneeling and merely watched as Toshinori listened to his mentor’s last words. He didn't even register it in his mind, intently focusing himself on his dying mentor.

Looking back, Toshinori thinks he might be in shock then; between facing his mentor’s sworn enemy, listening to her last words, and noticing the previously unnoticed _hole_ on her back, it’s a wonder Toshinori managed to even call an ambulance at the end of it all.

It’s a wonder he’s even _alive_ , with All for One obviously ignoring him. By the time the ambulance reached them, the ancient man has disappeared. Unnoticed and unknown.

It nags Toshinori’s mind, how All for One merely ignored him.

It haunts his nightmares; his dismissive, echoing ‘ _not you_.’

It follows Toshinori’s whole life like a nagging shadow. Reminded him that, despite all his efforts, there’s always a chance that _that man_ would dismiss him. With every failure, Toshinori pushed himself harder. With every successes, his mentor’s last words would echo, reminded again of his promise on her death bed.

Frankly, being the Number One Hero as he is now, Toshinori still doesn’t know if he would be _enough_.

His therapist convinced him that he is enough, though. His friends and colleagues all admire him—it’s a fact now that he’s Japan’s _Beloved_ Number One. Gran Torino-sensei would hit him and throw him to the crocodiles again if he moped around like this, so… So maybe. Maybe it’s okay to feel more confident and relax. Maybe the promise is not that far out reach anymore.

Maybe, his mentor would be proud of what he becomes, if she could look at him now.

* * *

After the long years tracking him down, after numerous crime syndicates taken down only to track that man’s whereabouts, Toshinori finally able to confront his previous mentor’s—and now his—eternal nemesis. Clad in black prim suit hangs over his shoulder and white under shirt, fire leaped out of his being. All for One did not talk; he simply looked at Toshinori, _smiles_ , and attacked.

( _What a joke._

_What a fucking joke._

_Toshinori is_ not _enough. He’s_ never _enough_.)

As the battle rages, Toshinori’s confidence dwindles. All for One is crafty. Every time he’s cornered, he would pull something out of his body; a new quirk manifested. And just as gracefully he willed his flames, his other quirks obeys his will. Rubbles flew to trap Toshinori, followed by a trail of roaring fire. He would pull a knife out of thin air, throw it askew, only for it to turn back to Toshinori's head the moment before a fatal hit would touch him. Every hit Toshinori managed to land on him will be healed before Toshinori could land the next one.

That day, Toshinori’s nightmare becomes reality.

Toshinori felt no pain. It was merely an echo at the back of his head. Instead, he felt _numb_. He was not a prisoner of fear anymore, no, he could move even with fear coursing through his being now. But.

But this is _terror_ coursing through his blood now.

With a hole on his stomach (just like Shimura-sensei’s), with All for One kneeling in front of him; his sunset eyes dim and empty compared to the _shine_ it shows in their battle earlier, the man spoke of the words haunting Toshinori’s dreams since that day, spat Toshinori’s most feared words to his face, solidifying Toshinori’s nightmarish reality;

“Not you.”

_(Not you._

_You’re not enough. Never enough._

_You failed, Toshinori. You’re a failure. Useless.)_

And like a mockery, All for One simply stood up, turning his back without even finishing him off.

Toshinori loses his consciousness even before gravity fully claimed him.

* * *

“It’s _you_.”

All for One _smiles_. He always smiles, Toshinori remembered. In his nightmares, at that battle, and now. As if he’s meeting with a friend. As if Toshinori is here to die willingly by his hands, and he’s happy with it.

As if he already knew what an utter failure Toshinori is, and laughing at it all.

“Indeed.” Wind whips around them, as high as they are. Toshinori could hear the sound of news chopper above them, no doubt filming them. _Fear is poison of the mind._ “Let’s end everything here, All for One. Once and for all.” Toshinori’s voice boomed through the air. He could almost taste it; the anticipation of his victory, the cheers of Japan citizens at his back. Toshinori stretched his grin; bright and wide. He couldn't disappoint them now. “I AM HERE! PREPARE YOURSELF!”

Toshinori exhaled slowly as the suit-clad man's smile widens. "Of course, _Hero_."

_Midoriya-shonen, I’m sorry_.

* * *

“Why do you want to know about him, Midoriya-shonen?”

“I..” The teen fidgets, shifting his feet and wringing the end of his Yuuei uniform together; a nervous tick, Toshinori learned. “…I met him in middle school.”

“ _What_?”

“No! Not like that!” Apparently, his shock and mortification is clear enough that his successor waved both of his hands in panic, trying to right the situation. “There’s not even a fight! I’m not even hurt, Yagi-san! I swear it’s just normal meeting! Or, kinda normal anyway, considering who he is but—“

Before the teen could go on more, Toshinori holds up a hand with a smile on his face, and Midoriya sheepishly shuts his mouth.

“—so, um, anyway. I told him that I’m quirkless and I want to be a hero, and he said… He said I could, I should reach my dreams, try to do it despite what everyone said.” The teen quiets for a bit, as if recalling the memory with almost fondness and awe in his green eyes. Missing how Toshinori winced at the remainder on what he answered at that question. Midoriya continues, “And then—“

The story is a normal story if not for _who_ he spoke of. Toshinori couldn’t believe his ears, couldn’t wrap his head around the image of this All for One Midoriya spoke of. That conflicted expression of his, the clear awe and admiration—Toshinori should put an end to it all _now_.

“Midoriya, my boy,” Toshinori begins slowly, his skeletal hand on the boy’s shoulder made the teen focus on his blue eyes, holding his solemn stare, “There’s one thing you should always remember about Shimizu Tsunayoshi,” Midoriya gulped. Toshinori deepens his frown. “That man is a _monster_.”

Midoriya frowned, more conflicted and most importantly, not ready to believe Toshinori’s words. He tightens his grip on the teen’s shoulder, trying to convey the severity of the situation.

“He’s the one who gave me my wound, Midoriya-shonen. I would be dead then—I _should_ have died.” Midoriya flinched, but Toshinori stopped him even before he could say his first _but_ , “There’s a reason why he’s the crowned King of Underworld for decades, maybe even hundreds of years. Don’t _ever_ forget that. Understand?”

Meekly, hesitantly, his successor nodded. Toshinori ruffled his green hair and offered to walk out of the faculty together, attempting at casual conversation like the teen’s homework.

Toshinori thought Midoriya already let that matter go, that he understands and leave it at that, but reaching the conjunction to his house, it’s proven that it wasn’t the case. Midoriya stopped, and instead greeting goodbye as always, again the green-haired kid surprised him by looking at Toshinori in the eyes and said, “But he looks so… _sad_. Exhausted. You see that too, didn’t you, Yagi-san?”

Midoriya’s eyebrows frowns in uncertainty. Conflicted. His attachment to _that man_ by only a meeting of a life time runs deep, it seems.

Toshinori was quiet, deciding what to answer. He should lie, a part of himself rationalizes. It would do more good than harm, at this topic. But he had lied a lot lately and he wants to be the best of himself to his successor. Toshinori is dying, anyways, and he’s a weary old man. Midoriya would figure this out by himself, this thing he desperately denies. Midoriya is smart like that.

So he said, “I do.”

There’s more hesitation as Midoriya shifted his feet, then, “… Are villains usually look like that?”

That. Weary of the world. Dazed. As if looking at something else. Exhausted. Looking so sad as if he might cry right at that second and yet held still and fight. Viciously. Ruthlessly.

_A fond smile._

“… I don’t know, my boy.”

And it sounds like a defeat on its own, coming from Toshinori’s own mouth.

* * *

“Brother…”

_…. Who?_

“…. I’m sorry….”

_Ah…_

“I’m so sorry…”

_I see… I understand now…_

“My _hero_ , I’m sorry…”

 _Such a sad existence…_ I _am sorry… for not realizing sooner… for denying… for my failure…_

_I suppose… This is ~~another~~ really goodbye, ~~brother~~ …._

* * *

_“I grow weary of this, Heroes._

_A society who burdened one man to hold itself as a pillar… does **not**_ _deserve to exist._

_This is my one and only warning:_

_Prepare yourselves."_

* * *

_He’s a monster_.

Izuku sobbed, tears flowing freely from his eyes, chest heaving painfully as he watched the livestream from Kamino. All Might—his mentor—he just—

 _He’s a monster_.

Shimizu-san just—

_He’s a monster._

Izuku wailed, not caring whoever it is who pulled him to a hug. He reached out to hug that person, gripping their cloth in his fingers, curling his head to their shoulder and screamed his lungs out in anguish. He barely registered that the person also hugged him back, too busy drowning in his own tears.

Izuku does not want to face the world. He doesn’t know if he wants to live in this reality anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> Me: i want to make Dabi POV  
> my brain: All Might is Terrified(tm) of AFO Tsuna. Bottom text.
> 
> So i guess you people can guess Yagi's and Tsuna's mental state from this wwwww. I hope you enjoy this piece! Writing angst is not my forte
> 
> Let me rant a bit for this story (lol). So out of all the wielders, Yagi (and Izuku) is the one who has the closest personality and quirks like Tsuna's brother (Hiro), the first One for All user. But Tsuna sees Izuku as Midori, and Yagi doesn't realize he has connection to the First by OFA. Yagi is Terrified of Tsuna, yes, but he also is terrified _for_ Tsuna, and this is because of OFA. The First unconsciously resonates with him, and Yagi only understand it at the end. He keeps denying the First's concerns and blames himself for being terrified of Tsuna all his life. Did All Might die? Idk i haven't decided that, but i can assure you this battle is far more bloody than canon.


End file.
